Bottle capping mechanism



Oct. 15, 1940. A. s. JACKSON BOTTLE CAPPING MECHANISM Filed April 12, 1959 II Imilml IIIIIIn lIIIIIIIV llllll 4..Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A chckson,

A'TTOR S Get. 15, 1940. 5, JACKSON 2,218,452

BOTTLE CAPPING MECHANI SM Filed April 12, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR A. Tackson,

ATTOR S 1 A. s. JACKSON 2,218,452

' BOTTLE CAPPING MECHANISM I Filed April 12, 1.939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNE Patented Oct. 15, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Owens-Illinois Glass of Ohio Company, a corporation Application April 12, 1939, Serial No. 267,408

Claims.

The present invention relates to bottle capping machines designed for use in applying threaded plastic or other bottle caps to the threaded necks of bottles during the selecting and packing there- The principal object of the invention is to provide a bottle capping machine which will apply the. caps to the bottle necks with a uniform degree of pressure that may be regulated at will, to accommodate bottles requiring caps of varying size or varying thread characteristics.

Another ob jectof the invention is to provide such a bottle capping machine which will apply the caps to the bottles in a more economical manner than has heretofore been possible with the hand method at present employed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such a machine which will effectively apply a plurality of caps to a series of bottles simultaneously, thus materially increasing the speed at which the bottles may be packed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. l is a side elevational view of a bottle capping machine constructed in accordance with the principles of, the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken substantially 30 along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view take substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. 2; 35 Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line 5--5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line 6-45 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the bottle capping machine involves in its general organization a footed column !0, the upper end of which is threaded as at H, and which adjustabiy receives thereon a conventional type of cap selecting mechanism 12, a spanner nut l3 being employed to adjust the'elevation of the mechanism l2 and a setscrew l4 being providedto lock the mechanism l2 in any desired adjusted position. i l

The conventional cap selecting mechanism l2 includes a hopper l5 (Fig. 5) for the bottle caps C, through which there extends a tubular sleeve iii in which there is rotatably mounted, a shaft ill having a worm gear l8 mounted on the rear end thereof and a cap selecting disk [9 on the other end thereof. An electric motor M suspended from the hopper casing, operates through a chain and sprocket mechanism to drive a horizontal worm shaft 21 having a worm 22 thereon meshing with the worm gear [8.

Upon rotation of the shaft H and disk [9, the latter operates in a well known manner by means of a circular series of relatively long pins 23 which are spaced apart in such a manner that only one cap may pass between adjacent pins. Interposed between each adjacent pair of the pins 23, is a short pin 24 which must register with the cap opening of any particular cap before the latter may pass between the adjacent long pins. Such caps as are permitteed by the short pins 24 to enter between the adjacent long pins 23 are supported upon a curved guideway 25 secured to a ring 26 mounted on the outlet end of the hopper l5. Such caps as find their way into the space existing between adjacent long pins 23 are ultimately discharged by gravity into a chute 2! (Fig. 2) by means of which they are conducted to the bottle capping machine proper.

The arrangement of parts associated with the cap selecting mechanism I2 is purely conven tional and no claim is made herein to any novelty associated therewith. While it is a desirable adjunct to the bottle capping machine proper, the novelty of. this application resides solely in the construction and arrangement of the latter which willnow be described in detail.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, the bottle capping machine proper includes a supporting arm 3|] or bracket, to which there is bolted or otherwise secured, a magazine 3! provided with a hinged frame 32 or door at the front thereof. A glass panel 32' extends across the upper portion of the frame while the lower portion thereof is open as at 31. The magazine 3| includes a relatively long end post 33 and a relatively short end post 34 across which posts there extends a rear wall 35 and a front wall 36, the latter wall terminating above the upper edge of the frame 32.

A cap support 33 extends across the posts 33 and 34 at the bottom of the magazine. An in clined bar 39 extends from the short post 34 to the chute 21 and closes the upper end of the magazine.

The distance between the front wall 36 and the rear wall 35 is slightly greater than the height of the individual caps C and a plurality of partitions or dividing walls iii of progressively increasing height, extend in spaced relationship across the magazine, spanning the front and rear wall thereof in such a manner as to provide a series of cap rows which are arranged vertically rsp.

in the magazine. The cap rows are designated at a, b, c, d, e, and f and are of progressively increasing capacity. The upper ends of the partitions terminate in alignment a distance below the inclined bar 39 equal to substantially the diameter of the individual caps C and thus, when the magazine is filled, an inclined row 01" caps underlies the bar 39 and the individual caps thereof rest, either on the uppermost caps in the cap rows or upon the upper ends of the partitions 40 as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 4, and 6, a cap spinning assembly 4| is mounted on the supporting arm 30 behind the magazine 3| and consists of an elongated box-like housing 42, the upper end of which is closed by means of a plate 43 which is secured in position by means of cap screws 44 that extend into the side walls of the housing. Journalled in front and rear bearings 45 and 46 respectively, and extending across the side walls of the housing 42 is a plurality of rotatable shafts 41 corresponding in number to the number of cap rows provided in the magazine 3!. The shafts 41 extend completely through one side wall of the housing and the outer end of each shaft has mounted thereon, a cap spinning unit 48 including a rubber or other resilient cap-engaging pad 49. The rear wall 35 of the magazine 3! is provided with an opening 5t adjacent the bottom of the magazine and the cap spinning units 48 extend into this opening and occupy respective positions directly behind the bottle caps C resting on the cap support 38 at the bottom of each of the cap rows (1, b, c, d, e, and 1.

Means is provided for continuously rotating the cap spinning units 48 in unison and accordingly, each shaft 41 has mounted thereon a spiral gear 52 which meshes with a similar gear 53 mounted on a shaft 5d that extends the length of the housing 42 and which is journalled in bearings 55 and 55 in the end walls of the former. Spacing sleeves 57 maintain the gears 53 spaced and in register with the respective gears 52.

The shaft 54 extends through one end wall of the housing 42 and the outer end thereof has mounted thereon a sprocket 58. A chain 59 passes over the sprocket 58 and also over a sprocket 66 carried on the driving shaft of the motor M and thus the motor M is utilized for driving both the cap selecting disk l9 and the cap spinning units 48.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the supportion arm 30 is formed with slideways 6! on which there is slidable toward and away from the magazine ill, a bottle support 62 including a table portion 63. A pair of bottle confining members 64 and 65 respectively, are adjustable on the table portion 63 and cooperate with a fixed confining member v66 to provide a rack designed to hold a number of bottles B corresponding to the number of cap rows in the magazine 3i. A treadle 6'! serves to move the bottle support 62 toward the magazine and a spring 53 serves to return the support to its initial position.

When the bottles are placed in the bottle rack provided by the confining members 64, 65 and 66, as shown in Fig. 3, movement of the bottle support 62 toward the magazine, by means of the treadle 61, causes the threaded finishes of the various bottles to engage the lowermost bottle caps C in the cap rows a, b, c, d, e, and f, and continued movement of the support causes these caps to be forced against the rotating cap spinning units 48. The degree of pressure with which the caps C engage the cap spinning units pads 49 slip on the surface of the caps. treadle 61 is then released and the bottles are 48 may be adjusted by means of a pair of limit stops 69 and 70 secured to the supports 30 and 62 respectively. The limit stops 69 and 10 are in the form of adjusting screws either of which may be turned to effect the desired pressure adjustment.

After the caps have been threaded upon the respective bottle finishes by frictional engagement of the caps with the cap spinning units 48, the units 48 continue to rotate and the resilient The withdrawn. Upon withdrawal of the bottles, the caps C at the bottom of each cap row, are withdrawn and the next adjacent cap falls into registry with its respective cap spinning unit 48. The rows a, b, c, d, e, and f are supplied from the inclined row of caps existing at the top of the magazine. The caps in this latter inclined row are continuously replenished from the chute 21 leading from the cap selecting mechanism l2.

It is to be noted that the upper surface of the cap support 38 is inclined and also that the central axes of the bottles on the bottle support 62, is slightly elevated from the central axes of the respective bottle caps on the cap support 38. Thus, during the actual spinning operation, the caps are slightly elevated from the cap support so that the sides of the caps, which frequently are knurled, will clear the support and not be marred or otherwise damaged.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a bottle capping apparatus, a cap support adapted to receive thereon a threaded bottle cap with the outer side Wall of the cap resting on the support, a cap spinning member mounted for rotation about an axis substantially coinciding with the axis of the cap on the support and in close proximity to the cap, a bottle support adapted to receive thereon a bottle with the axis of the bottle substantially coinciding with the axis of the cap on the support, said bottle support being movable toward and away from the cap support, a limit stop for limiting the movement of the bottle support toward the cap support, and means for adjusting the position of the limit stop.

2. In a bottle capping apparatus, a magazine for bottle caps including means for confining the caps in a stack with the axes thereof extending in parallelism, and a cap support for the lowermost cap in the stack, a cap spinning member positioned adjacent the bottom of the stack and designed for engagement with the lowermost cap in the stack, a bottle support adapted to receive thereon a bottle with the axis of the bottle finish extending in substantial coincidence with the axis of the lowermost cap in the stack, said bottle support being movable from an outer position wherein the finish of the bottle thereon is out of contact with said lowermost cap to an innermost position wherein the same is in contact, therewith, a limit stop in the path of movement of the support for determining the innermost position of the support, means for moving the support, and means for rotating the cap spinning member.

3. In a bottle capping apparatus, a magazine for bottle caps including means for confining the caps in a plurality of stacks with the axes thereof extending in parallelism, a cap support common to all of the stacks and positioned therebeneath for supporting the lowermost caps in the stacks,

a rotatable cap spinning member positioned adjacent the bottom of each stack and designed for frictional engagement with the lowermost cap in the stack, a bottle support adapted to receive thereon a plurality of bottles with the axes of the respective bottle finishes extending in substantial coincidence with the axes of the lowermost caps in the respective stacks, means for moving the bottle support toward and away from the magazine, means for rotating the cap spinning members in unison, and means for supplying bottle caps to the magazine.

l. In a bottle capping apparatus, a cap support adapted to receive thereon a threadedbottle cap with the outer side wall of the cap resting on the support, a cap spinning member mounted for rotation about an axis substantially coinciding with the axis of the cap on the support and in close proximity to the cap, a bottle support adapted to receive thereon a bottle with the axis of the bottle substantially coinciding with the axis of the cap on the support,said bottle support being movable toward and away from the cap support, and a limit stop for limiting the movement of the bottle support toward the cap support.

5. In a bottle capping apparatus, a magazine for bottle caps including means for confining the caps in a plurality of stacks with the axes thereof extending in parallelism, a cap support common to all of the stacks and vpositioned therebeneath for supporting the lowermost caps in the stacks, a rotatable cap spinning member positioned adjacent the bottom of each stack and designed for frictional engagement with the lowermost cap in the stack, a bottle support adapted to receive thereon a plurality of bottles with the axes of the respective bottle finishes extending in substantial coincidence with the axes of the lowermost caps in the respective stacks, means for moving the bottle support toward and away from the magazine, means for rotating the cap spinning members in unison, and means for supplying bottle caps to the magazine, said means for rotating the cap spinning members including a horizontal shaft disposed in proximity to the lower end of the stacks and driving connection between said shaft and each of the spinning members.

ALBERT s. JACKSON. as 

